Life-guard.



Patented Feb. 2, 1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEYJ.

B. LEV.

LIFE GUARD.

APPLIOATIOE FILED JUL! 22, 1901.

Fig. 1.

I D :2 w 4 i: 1 ilxlllllxlllil 1 r lull 3K" 71 S S W R H H n v 9 8 6 8R mu o D O 1 4 C 2 2 m z a W 8 E Q 1 1 F F G Q Pm n. 9M! 0% u o 9 u j: 3 w T wrwwm l l nus ca, wlsnllmron, mc.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN LEV, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE ECLIPSE RAILWAY SUPPLY COM- PANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION.

LIFE-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

Application filed July 22, 1907. Serial No. 385,029.

To all whom it "me concern:

Be it known t at I, BENJAMIN LEV, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life-Guards,

' and do declare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to life-guards for motor cars, and the invention consists in a uard which is desi nod to come entirely eneath the body 0 the car and -to have engagement with the truck of the car where the ard proper is located, all substantially as s own and described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompan ing drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation o a car, showing the latform or bottom of the car body, the rout ortion of the car truck on which the guard is operatively located and the connections between these parts as will hereinafter more fully appear. Fig. 2 is a lan view of the guard mechanism and the immediate parts to which it is attached, omittin the plat form shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a ront elevation of the striker mechanlsm, with obstructing parts sectioned away. Fi 4 is a view corresponding substantiall to Fig. 1 excepting that in this instance t ie guard is down, presumably as when it strlkes a human ody, as also will hereinafter more fully appear. Fig. 5 is a plan view corresponding su stantially to Fig. 2 but showing the car on a curve and the parts in the relation they sustain to the track and to each other when a curve is turned.

The invention as thus shown is especially ada ted to ickup and carryprostratebodies, sue a ho y being shown at B in Fig. 4. It is furthermore adapted to be located Wholly beneath the car body or platform, and in this respect conforms with the reuirements of the law in at least some of the tates of the United States of America and can be adopted in all cases where, for any reason, it is found desirable to deal with a body that is lying upon the ground rather than with one standing in front of the car. It is practicable, however, to associate with this particular guard another adapted to come at the front of the car and pick up persons who may be struck standing on the track. To these several ends O represents the car or car body or platform, and T the truck. My new and improved safety device intervenes these arts res ectively, as shown and comprises what may e termed a striker or striking member S, and guard G, having a series of independently supported and forwardly projecting guard or carrying arms 2, respectively, hinged on cross bar 3 at the rear of sai guard. The said arms 2 are so hinged upon cross bar 3 that they will not drop below a level common to all of them, but may be independently raised verticall and hence when the said guard is bodii y lifted to normal position relatively as seen in Fig. 1, the said arms or fin ers 2 will occupy a substantially horizonta relation. They are of suitable heavy spring steel with underturned extremities 4 upon which they are adapted to run upon the surface of the street when down, and comparatively few of these arms are suflicient to intercept and protect a body beneath which they may project, as appears probable in full lines of said arms, Fig. 4, while one or more of said arms may run over or upon said body as indicated in dotted lines in said figure. Hence the importance of having these arms independent of each other and each adapted to act accordin to the conditions it may meet and leavin t e others free to act in like manner with t e probability that a prostrate body will be intercepted by at least enough of these arms beneath the same to pick it up and carry it alon so as to prevent being run over by the truci. In fact, repeated tests with dummies representing human bodies in form and weight as nearly as possible, and throwing said dummies into every conceivable posltion, have shown that in no instance did the same esca e the guard, but was caught up by it an carried along until the car was stopped, and such tests have been made at every rate of running speed in order to determine the effectiveness of the guard in all probable contingencies, or such as are ordinarily met with in every day car service. Now, the said guard is designed to be dropped by its own gravity into acting position the instant the safet or tripping mechanism strikes a body, an said safety or tripping mechanism comprises the striker or member S, which preferably is a cushioned or yielding part, say of rubber, and is suspended in front of the car by hangers 6 and 7 i and cross bar 8, or its equivalent. Said hangers are pivotally suspended from suitable brackets 11 rigid on frame or platform C, their normal position being down, as in Fig. 1, which brings striker S to a plane so near the surface of the track that no object that has life, such as a child or a dog, can pass beneath the same if it be lying upon the track.

One of. the intermediate hangers 7 has an open notch or recess in its front edge which is eng ged by a laterally extending arm 9 rigid with the shaft of drum 10, and the said recess is such that when said hanger swings to the rearward a slight distance under pressure on the striker the said arm 9 is released from said recess or notch and guard G at the rear dropped down into protecting or picking up position. The mechanism through which this transfer of action is accomplished will presently be described, but attention is now called to drum 10 upon which rope or cable 19 is wound and has its upper looped end in position on the top of the car platform convenient to the motorman to be drawn up and thus wind up said drum and carry all the operating parts of the safety arrangement back to normal or waiting position. To these ends the said drum is supported upon a short shaft 12 rotatable therewith, and arm 9 is rigid with said drum and adapted to drop down when released, as in Fig. 4, from horizontal or looking position as in Fig. 1. In order that said drum and its connections shall positively act when arm 9 is liberated from the hanger even though the joints or parts be somewhat rusted and sticky and not inclined otherwise to respond as they should, I provide a finger 14 immediately overthe arm supporting recess in hanger 7 which has the effect of starting the said arm downward when, the said hanger is thrown to. the rear, the edge of said finger being inclined downwardly for this purpose, but not interfering with the prompt action of the'par'ts. On the contrary it serves to instantly start rotation toward safety position and promotes the action of arts in any case. i Now, t e connections to the rear to operate the life guard proper indicated by G, comprise a rod or bar connected b knuckle or universal joint 1 with drum s aft 12, and a corresponding rod or bar G slidably mounted at one end on bar E and united'by knuckle joint 16 with short shaft member 17 supported in bracket 18 from truck T and somewhat forward thereof to make operating were. The said shaft 17 carries a lateral. arm 20 which is engaged by a rigid but more or less curved arm 22 extending upward from the cross bar? of guard G eve arm 20 and adapted tc bear upon said arm 20 at all times,- which, in this instance, is provided with a bearing roller 23for the arm 22. In a down, are Fi 4.

sense, the two arms 9 and 20, res ectively, one at the front and the other at the rear of the o crating parts, stand laterally or horizonta ly in substantially the same plane and are designed to work or drop by rotation at the same time, the releasing of arm 9 causing the droppin of arm 20 through the connections E an G and the associate arts at their ends as shown. It will be unr erstood that while these extensible connections lengthwise of bars E and G are rigid for. all

Y purposes of free and mutual rotation to drop the guard fingers 2 the instant the r are released, they are flexible for all ot er pur poses, and the two parts E and G are ada ted to slide one u on the other at their e1 ds, which are looped and provided with infervening rollers 24 to remote easy action. The service and value of this extensible or slidablc relationship between connecting parts E and G is particularly apparent in Fig. 5 when a turn or curve of the car is to be made and the forwardly projecting portion of the car body is so far in advance and at one side of the line of travel of the truck that there must be extensibility in these couplings or they could not operate, but no release of mechanism is affected by the curves or turns of the track, and the entire mechanism is designed to remain set relatively as seen in Fig. 1 with something of a trigger like engagement particularly between hanger 7 and arm 9, so that the instant that the striker encounters an object that moves it the entire mechanism will be released and the life guard will drop into picking up position before the rostrate body is reached, at whatever spee the car may be going. Of course, if more rapid descent of said arms 2 were needed than gravity gives it could be supplied by means of springs or the like, but saldyarms are numerous and heavy and have but a short distance to fall before, they strike the track and the car will not traverse thedistance between the 1rigints of the fingers and striker S before gers are upon the track. Now, assuming that the parts have been down for action, the motorman has simply to pullupward on cord or cable 19 and rotate the drum, unwinding the cord and in doing this will naturally dro into or be engagedm recess 27 and the guar arms at the rear will raised and everything will be set and in readiness for further contingencies.

In a mechanical sense the connection formed by bars E and G is a single or u ni- 'tary connection as: such, and telescop ng tubes or the like could'be substituted. In fact vari ons eqmvahnts are for this and other pa'rts of the mechanism and are understood. to be within the invention. 30 strikes bracket l7"whenptheiguard is 1. 'In' life-guards for carsya series of inde-' pendently mounted guard arms, in combination with a pivotally suspended striker in advance of said arms, and a rotatable extensible connection operatively engaged with said arms and adapted to be released to drop the arms by the swinging of said striker on its pivots.

2. In life-guards for cars, a series of separately pivoted guide-arms and means adapted to drop said arms to serving position comprising a striker pivotally mounted from the car body before said arms and supporting mechanism for said arms adapted to be released when said striker is operated and comprising an axially rotatable extensible connection.

3. In life-guards for cars, a striking member transversely of the car adapted to swing rearward when struck, a series of guard arms behind said striking member and a rotatable support therefor, and an arm ri id with said support in tripping relation with said striking member, whereby when said member acts said fingers will be released and drop.

4. In life-guards for cars, a suspended striker, in combination with a life-guard, a rotatable mechanism operatively engaged by said striker and means between said guard and said rotatable mechanism adapted to hold said guard in suspended position.

5. In lifeguards for cars, a life-guard and a striker in front thereof and means for holding the guard off the ground operatively connected with said striker and comprising parts slidably engaged with each other and rotatable members at the ends of said parts, and a lateral arm on one of said rotatable members adapted to carry said life guard.

6. In life-guards for cars, a striker and hangers suspending the same, in combination with means to carry the said striker having an arm engaged in one of said hangers and a member over the said arm adapted to depress the arm when the hanger is swung away and the arm released.

7. In life-guards for cars, a guard and a striker in front thereof, in combination with a rotatable connection between said parts having a lateral arm at each end, a support for the guard engaged on the rear of said arms and a hanger for the striker engaged by the front arm.

8. In life-guards for cars, a striker mounted on the car body, in combination with a life-guard constructed to be lowered and means to normally hold said guard in elevated position having operative connection with said striker, and means providing a compulsory initial movement of said operative means when the striker is engaged and actuated.

9. A life-guard for cars comprising a transversely arranged striker, a pivotally mounted guard behind said striker adapted to drop to the car track, and extensible releasing connections for said guard operatively engaged with said striker.

10. In life-guards for cars, a pivotally suspended. striker, in combination with a pivotally supported guard, devices to carry the guard in raised position and to drop the same when the striker is actuated comprising an extensible shaft and a shaft member supported in fixed bearings and coupled to said extensible shaft and operatin connections between said fixed shaft and the guard.

11. In life-guards for cars, actuating mechanism for a guard comprising a striker and a rotatable drum operatively supporting the guard comprising a rotatable drum connected therewith, and a cable on said drum to rotate the same to engage the striker.

12. In life-guards for cars, a life-guard and means to hold the same in suspended position, in combination with a striker and means connecting the same with the lifeguard and adapted to drop the guard when the striker is operated, said means comprising a carrying member for the guard, and an extensible connection between said carrying member and the striker having initial operating connection with the striker and coupled uith said carrying member.

13. A car truck and a life-guard pivotally mounted on the front thereof, in combination with a car body and a striker pivotally supported at the front thereof, and an extensible operating connection between said striker and said lifeuard constructed to drop the guard when t 1e striker is operated, whereby the life-guard is held in an operating position at different angles in respect to the striker and accommodation is made for turning curves in tracks, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN LEV.

Witnesses R. B. MOSER, F. C. MUssUN. 

